We Cheer (guest review)

If you never got past cheerleading tryouts in high school, We Cheer is just the thing — to make you feel klutzy all over again.

NamcoBandai’s latest game for girls doesnâ€™t require you to do the splits, but itâ€™s just challenging enough to make you feel more like Kirstie Alley than Kristen Dunst circa Bring It On. Fortunately, if you can persevere long enough and you donâ€™t break out in hives hearing Aly & AJ, itâ€™s quite painless.

Players start out with a squad of five girls â€“ Lisa, Ronnie, Ai, Sheila and Cristina â€“ who can be customized by hair (shades ranging from natural to anime) and skin color to be as diverse as you want. Available uniform sets and components start out at a dizzying number, which is good because customization may be some playersâ€™ strong point.

Using Wii Remotes as pompons (single players may use one, but two is more effective), players can practice rhythm, moves, combos and coordination before taking on championships and multiplayer cheer-offs.

Red and blue tracer arrows help players anticipate moves. It is easy to follow the arrow instead of the song beat though players who have red or blue uniforms may see their clothes blend in a little too much with these visual cues.

But that shouldn’t be too much of a problem because the menu includes adjustments not only to the arrows but also to counter a lag time that occurs with high-definition televisions.

At the championships, players are greeted at four national stages by a rival cheerleader who keeps the taunts mild, because she joins your squad when you clear the stage. (Rivals get snottier as more stages are unlocked, especially Olivia, the Nellie Oleson with dark roots at National Studios.) The rivals’ uniforms are also added to the sets players can choose from.

Playing the game, I found that the number of points doesnâ€™t seem as important as getting a combination of correct moves. For example, stages can be cleared at 65,000 and not cleared at 110,000. Players who connect better with complicated moves might have better luck at higher levels. Players have up to four songs per stage but only need one performance to clear it.

A megaphone keeps track of progress with a rainbow bar, and itâ€™s easy to come one color short of advancing. Then the rival cheerleader commiserates with the player (or gloats if sheâ€™s Olivia).

If wardrobe options arenâ€™t overwhelming enough, more uniforms can be won by playing the stage after itâ€™s been cleared, and instead of competing against rival cheerleader, you play against emo athletes. (â€œI â€“ I â€“ I get so nervous â€¦ Cheer me on, Ronnie!â€) Wincingly, while the girlsâ€™ audio comments are reduced to coos and giggles, the guys get complete sentences (â€œThat wasnâ€™t good!â€).

When not competing for national dominance or against up to three other players in a cheer-off, players also have a workout option where they help one blobbular boy lose his excess gut in two to five minutes. He goes down in size in a cloud of smoke as a set number of calories are burned off during the workout. If heâ€™s svelte enough at the end, he gives the player yet another uniform.

â€œPlaying this game in â€˜Workout Modeâ€™ â€¦ should not be used as a substitute for regular exercise,â€ the instruction booklet says, in case players donâ€™t notice their own stomachs not vaporizing.

Despite the occasional giggle, We Cheer is much less irritatingly cutesy than that high-pitched Cooking Mama. It probably wouldnâ€™t win over a serious jockette â€“ or a boy, despite the trailer at the We Cheer Web site â€“ but girls (and their mothers) who donâ€™t mind pop music and a challenge might find it worth a go.

Gieson Cacho

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